


A Kind of Magic That Cannot Be Taught

by noblenymphadora



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Head Boy Teddy Lupin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-02
Updated: 2015-09-02
Packaged: 2018-04-18 15:12:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4710533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noblenymphadora/pseuds/noblenymphadora
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>JK Rowling announcing that Teddy is Head Boy prompted me to write about him getting his letter.<br/>Andromeda has done the best she can bringing up Teddy, but at times like this she wishes nothing more than for him to have his parents by his side.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Kind of Magic That Cannot Be Taught

**Author's Note:**

> Finding out Teddy Lupin is Head Boy is the best thing that has happened in ages so I thought I'd make myself both very happy and very sad by writing about it.

The clock chimes 10 o'clock and the feeble summer sun is fighting its way through dense cloud, as an owl taps at the kitchen window, whilst Andromeda Tonks tidies up the kitchen wearing her favourite dressing gown. The owl taps at the window again and as she swings the latch open he crashes in through it but then recovers and lands on the kitchen table with grace. Andromeda carefully takes the two letters from his beak and reads Teddy's name in green ink, in McGonagall's neat cursive, on both. Nuzzling the owl's feathers with her deft fingers she lets it back out of the window again.  
"TEDDY!" she calls upstairs, he's still in bed of course, after all it is only 10am. Hearing a grumble, she assumes it to be an acknowledgement that she's spoken but that doesn't mean that he's awake, not by any means. Climbing the stairs and calling his name again she receives the same response. Rapping her knuckles on Teddy's door with a sigh, she doesn't wait for an invitation and cracks the door open and flicks the light on.  
"Heeeeey!" he groans, a playful tone lingering in his voice.   
"Your school letters are here." she informs him, holding them up in her right hand and wiggling them at him.  
"Come in then... if you dare." Teddy smirks, sitting up in his bed with his turquoise hair sticking up at questionable angles and his fluffy fringe hanging across his eyes. Andromeda perches on the corner of his bed, once clearing the pathway to be able to get there that is. Teddy tugs at the neck of his t-shirt that's got twisted up during the night.  
"I can't believe you still wear that old thing, it's over 20 years old!" Andromeda smiles, looking at her grandson wearing his mother's vibrant violet Weird Sisters t-shirt.  
"Come on where's these letters then? Chuck 'em here." Teddy mockingly commands, reaching his hand out with purpose. 

He skims over the first letter, "enclosed is your list of books...", etcetera etcetera, there's a surprise. He quickly thumbs through the book list and looks at the other necessary items he needs to get before starting back in September, but he's not really concentrating on that. Eagerly opening the other letter, in the back of his mind he is hoping so intensely that it's what he thinks it is. As he opens it, a small golden pin badge falls from the envelope, ruining any suspense either of them had been feeling up until this point. He leaves it resting on his lap as he unfolds the letter to read the words in that ever familiar green ink, in Mcgonagall's familiar penmanship. Blurred eyes look upon the letter and all he sees are the words "pleased" and "Head Boy" and "badge" and he puts the letter down on his lap. For a moment or two he just sits there letting it sink in, until he hears Andromeda talking to him. Taking the letter off his lanky legs, which are currently covered by a thin patchwork quilt, she hands the badge to him. Teddy turns it over to see the lemon coloured material that makes up the rest of the badge, the words 'Head Boy' engraved proudly into the gold.  
"Well done Ted," Andromeda smiles widely to him, and he smiles back as he runs his fingers through his hair, his cheeks glowing boldly.  
"I'm Head Boy, wow... I'm Head Boy. ME! Out of everyone they've chosen me!" he excitably exclaims, tumbling out of his bed and untangling his legs from the blanket in the process.  
"I'm so proud of you, Teddy!" Andromeda pulls him into her chest for a hug, his messy hair nuzzling into her neck as she holds him tightly.  
"I've got to tell Harry, I'll go and ring him now!" Teddy enthusiastically tells her as he clambers over several pairs of shoes, a stray sketchbook and various other unidentifiable items.   
"Hey, bear in mind that James will have just got his acceptance letter, so don't be annoyed if he doesn't answer straight away." Andromeda warns him, knowing that Teddy's excitement will make him impatient; Tonks was always just like that too. She listens for Teddy to clatter down the stairs towards the phone in the front room. Sometimes she still marvels at the fact Teddy takes the telephone for granted when it's a relatively new gadget to the Wizarding World, Teddy was almost in his first year at Hogwarts before they even bothered getting one at home. He is excitably rambling already so Harry must have picked up. 

She looks around her grandson's room at all the posters he's got tacked here and there, all of the half finished sketches and the screwed up pieces of paper strewn across the floor. Looking over to the bedside table she foolishly allows her eyes to fix on the small Polaroid photo in a polished black frame, the photo of Teddy, in the arms of her daughter and her son in law, waving his chubby hands at the camera.  
"I wish you were here to see him, he's so happy... he's so grown up." Tears welling up in her enchanting eyes, making them glisten with wonder. Andromeda hasn't stopped worrying about this beautiful, talented little boy for the last 17 years, but on top of that she worries whether her daughter, and whether Remus, would be happy with how she's brought Teddy up. Deep down she knows she's done a good job though, even if she doesn't always remember. Teddy even tells her every so often.   
Andromeda has a painfully vivid imagination and her brain is working overtime now, thinking about how they'd be reacting right now.   
Tonks would have probably broken at least three ornaments by now, jumping around with pride. Her adorable son is so much like her, but also enough like his dad, that he can be made Head Boy. Her kid is Head Boy. Her kid, who comes from the house that she holds so close to her heart, is Head Boy.   
Andromeda wishes that she was here to show him that, she knows that she'd be so proud.  
She thinks about how Remus, who she didn't really ever get chance to know like she should have, would probably be clutching his boy to his chest and ruffling his hair as he tells him that he's so very proud of him and kisses his forehead.   
Tears in Andromeda's eyes are now rolling down her cheeks and she thinks about how her husband would most likely be staring and waiting for the badge to do something magical, and then telling stories about who was Head Boy at his own school and she'd be laughing at him and at how different the responsibilities at muggle schools are.

She wants to tell everyone in the world how proud she is of this wonderful boy who has defied all the odds, but as she thinks of all the people she wants to tell she remembers yet again that she can't tell any of them. However, she can definitely ring Molly Weasley to tell her, but she'll have to wait until later, until Teddy gets off the phone.

Downstairs, Harry is telling Teddy about the fact James and Lily were Head Boy and Girl when they were at school. Harry is telling Teddy that Remus would still be hugging him tightly right now and wouldn't let go until Tonks laughed at him and pulled his arms away, but that's only because she'd want to do exactly the same thing aswell. Ginny is on the phone now, "Your mum would be so proud of you Teddy!" She begins to tell him how she'd be playing Weird Sisters songs; her hair would be bright bubblegum pink; her cheeks would be glowing rosy red as she jumped around more than anyone else would ever think necessary. Teddy can feel the tears in his eyes but he's beaming as he imagines his parents with him, the picture painted so vividly in his mind that for a few seconds it almost feels real. Teddy can hear Ginny speaking again, "Your mum would've probably made some sarcastic comment about the fact she can't believe any son of hers is such a nerd that he got made Head Boy," Teddy laughs at this and his heart feels almost warm with happiness, which really is the strangest feeling.  
"Your dad would probably tell you about all of the stupid or wonderful things my dad did whilst he was Head Boy, but I think he'd like to hope you'll be more like my mother was, because I can imagine she was a wonderful Head Girl." Harry says. On hearing Teddy's breathing quicken as he begins to get emotional, he hands the phone back to Ginny, relying on her to lift the mood.  
"All I'm going to say, Teddy, is please don't be like Percy was as Head Boy -"  
"Oh Wow, yes, please don't." Harry butts in until Ginny nudges him in the ribs and tells him to shut up.  
"Honestly he was so annoying, Bill was probably great though, I've never asked him actually. I really should do that." Ginny finishes with a quiet laugh at the back of her throat.  
"Oh I'll definitely try not to be like Percy, I've heard enough that I definitely don't want to be like that." Teddy giggles, Ron has told him a few stories about Percy's time as Head Boy before. "Anyway, did James get his letter?"  
"Yes!" James yells, somewhere in the background.  
"You heard that, I guess." Harry laughs and Teddy laughs with him.  
"Yeah, just a bit. He's looking forward to it then? Well, I better go and check on Gran, she's probably been thinking about mum again." Teddy replies with nothing but care and kindness in his voice.  
"Only a little excited," Ginny laughs, "Give her my love and we'll see you both on the weekend I'm sure." she adds before they're all saying goodbye and Teddy puts the phone down.

Sitting cross legged on the carpet beside the phone for a moment, he thinks about his parents again. The picture that Harry and Ginny painted for him makes it feel like they're with him right now. His cheeks are glowing with happiness as he looks into the glass cabinet and turns his hair the vibrant bubblegum pink his mum's always was when she was happiest; with his hair this colour at least another part of his mum really is present to celebrate with him, in a way.

Creaking his bedroom door open again and pushing some more clutter out of his way, he walks over to Andromeda.  
"No Gran, c'mon please don't cry," Teddy implores desperately, it's very rare that he sees her like this.  
"I'm sorry, kiddo." She replies rather feebly, with a faint smile forced onto her lips.  
"You know this isn't what they'd want," Teddy reassures her, sitting down right beside her on his bed. "They want us to be celebrating!"  
Teddy gently takes the bobble out of her hair and lets it fall around his gran's shoulders, jet black with streaks and strands of grey that Teddy thinks make her look interesting, but that she thinks just make her look old. Slowly running his fingers through it, he twists it back up into the loose bun it was contained in and ties the bobble back up. Andromeda has been trying to stop crying during this time but it hasn't really gone that successfully.  
"Look at your hair kiddo, you and your mum would be matching right now with that bubblegum colour." She smiles as she thinks about it, even though her heart aches at the same time.  
"I know, hers would look better though. It's not really my colour, my turquoise is best." Nodding in agreement with his own statement he starts to laugh.  
"I wish they were here, Teddy. I wish they could tell you how proud they are." Andromeda sighs with sadness as Teddy wraps his arm around her shoulder.   
"They are here with me, Gran. They're here," He rests his hand on his chest and smiles, "and they're in here," tapping a finger to his temple and closing his eyes for a few seconds.  
"You're just the sweetest little thing, I can't believe it's your last year at Hogwarts. How did you grow up so quick?" Her hand is resting on Teddy's head now and she ruffles his hair and for a moment everything feels peaceful, and the pain is gone, and she could just be having a moment with her grandson before his parents get out of bed. For a moment Teddy also feels as though this is true, well, he feels his parents beside him with their arms wrapped tightly around him. 

The world feels entirely at peace for just that moment. However, Teddy Lupin takes after his mother, so they both know that the peace can't ever last long before it gets shattered, and they treasure it whilst it lasts... It doesn't last long.

**Author's Note:**

> I did only want this to be one chapter but I think I'm going to have to write a chapter involving some more of the Weasleys, so that'll probably be up very soon.


End file.
